Sharp declines in deliveries of Russian natural gas via the Nord Stream pipeline are prompting authorities to make urgent preparations for the possibility of an extremely harsh winter in Germany.
It brings unprecedented situations and decisions for decades in Germany the energy crisis, a consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Moscow’s decision to turn off the “taps”.
The possibility of deciding to cut electricity supply to households, even a ticket does not rule out the head of the federal network agency (Bundesnetzagentur), in an interview published today Saturday in the publications of the media group Funke.
Sharp declines in deliveries of Russian natural gas via the Nord Stream pipeline are prompting authorities to make urgent preparations for the possibility of an extremely harsh winter in Germany.
“If we come to the point of imposing rationing, we will need to reduce industrial consumption first” he clarified anyway.
“I can guarantee you that we will do everything to avoid the possibility of households being left without gas. But what we have learned from the (coronavirus) crisis is how we should not make promises which we are not entirely sure we can abide by.”
Corporate consumers will be prioritized based on their commercial, economic and social importance in terms of potential funding disruptions, Mr Miller said. Paper, for example, is considered critical for printing newspapers and for packaging, especially of medicines.
Although Mr. Müller assured that Germany is not currently facing shortages of electricity, oil or gasoline, he stressed that households must focus their efforts in energy saving to reduce gas consumption.
Even if Russia stopped deliveries altogether, Germany would continue to receive quantities from pipelines in Norway and the Netherlands and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from other countries, Mr. Miller noted.
The energy regulator is studying priority areas and customers, which will be guaranteed electricity in the event of large gaps in gas supply in winter, from households and hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and paper production.
“Entertainment products and services are a lower priority (…). Swimming pools are clearly not critical, nor is the production of chocolate chip cookies,” he said. “We cannot consider every business to be systemically important,” warned Mr. Miller.
Bulletin on hot water and temperature limit
At the same time, the official of Hamburg who is responsible for environmental issues, warned that in case of interruption of the supply of Russian gas, the city will impose a quota on hot water and will impose a temperature limit on the heating systems.
In case of “acute lack of gas”, the hot water “will be available at certain times of the day”Jens Kerstan told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
The federal plan to deal with such an emergency calls for priority to be given to households and critical institutions such as hospitals, but this is “unfeasible in Hamburg, for technical reasons,” he said.
As Berlin looks for alternative gas suppliers, including LNG, Mr Kerstan warned that Hamburg’s temporary LNG terminal would not be ready before mid-2023.
The two temporary LNG terminals in Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbüttel are expected to be operational by the end of the year, according to Velt, cited by the economy ministry.
Russia cited technical difficulties due to Western sanctions roughly halving flows in recent weeks. Members of the German government believe that Moscow is proceeding in this way in retaliation for the sanctions it is facing.
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